Fairport Harbor pushes to fill vacant storefronts

Fairport Harbor has a problem a lot of small cities and villages nationwide share: a downtown district once bustling with activity now plagued by vacant storefronts.
But in recent years Kathleen Homyock, economic director for Fairport Harbor, has watched investment revitalize many of those areas into commercial destinations.
She said she wants the High Street corridor in Fairport Harbor to be the next success story and is employing strategies she’s seen work elsewhere.
On Thursday, Homyock, Councilwoman Pam Morse, the Painesville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Lake County Port and Economic Development Authority organized an open-for-business tour that took teams of people through six vacant storefronts along or near High Street.
More than 40 people, making up banks, business owners and nearby residents with start-up interests, participated in the tour.
The idea came from a blog post by Becky McCray, a small-business enthusiast, Homyock said.
In May, she wrote how a chamber of commerce director in one small Iowa city, Webster City, turned around its deserted downtown with a vacant storefront tour.
“I saw so many parallels,” Homyock said of the success story. “I looked at this picture and said, ‘That could be Fairport.’ ”
Fairport Harbor is in desperate need of commercial investment, more importantly for its tax revenue. De Nora Tech, based in Milan, Italy, moved its research and development operations to Concord Township from East Street in Fairport Harbor during a consolidation move in 2011.
State funding reductions and the elimination of the estate and personal tangible property tax has placed even greater burden on the village’s budget and has led to the layoffs of two full-time employees in May.
After failing to pass a 10.3-mill levy on the May 7 special election ballot, Mayor Tim Manross said the village’s only way of generating revenue is by luring commercial investment.
Up until the 1970s, Grocers, department stores and eateries filled High Street, but now the storefronts have less than a dozen restaurants, discount stores and beach-related shops scattered around.
Patty Mackey, who was born in Fairport Harbor and now lives on New Street, has watched High Street’s fortunes changed.
As a kid, she remembers going to the Lyric Theater once a week to watch serial movies, which were split up into chapters.
The theater at 221 High St. was open for 40 years before closing in 1961. The last movie it showed was “The Sound of Music.”
“It would be nice to reopen the theater, if not for cinema, maybe for theater productions with live performances,” Mackey said. “Willoughby has Fine Arts (Association) and Madison has Rabbit Run Theater, Fairport could have something too.”
The 5,000-square-foot theater now sits gutted and empty and owned by Life Safety Enterprises, based in Willoughby.
Mike Timperio, director of operations management for the company, said he hopes to sell the property to someone.
“I really believe if this became a theater again, it would bring a lot of people down to Fairport, and more traffic here is good for every business,” Timperio said.
The Lyric Theater was one of the six locations being toured.
The others included 204 Third St., 206 Third St., 203 High Street, 306 High St. and 322 High St.
All of them have their own history, either as a McCrone’s Department Store, an A&P grocery store, or as the Village Ice Cream Emporium.
Homyock sees a rural renewal in their future.
“People are looking to be connected,” Homyock said.
“Small is big and even the largest corporations need to connect in a very small way to make people feel a part of a smaller community.”

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About the Author

Simon Husted joined the News-Herald in February 2013. The Buffalo native and Kent State graduate covers schools and community issues in Fairport Harbor, Perry Township, Perry Village, North Perry, Madison Township and Madison Village. Reach the author at shusted@news-herald.com
or follow Simon on Twitter: @SimonSaysNH.